Masunga behind Tati Siding

WANETSHA MOSINYI
Correspondent | Wednesday August 8, 2007 00:00

 

It is almost a year and a half since the youthful 27 year-old chief, a public relations degree holder, ascended to the throne amid pomp and ceremony.  But after the enthronement, it was time for knuckling down to the nitty-gritty of overseeing the development of Masunga.

However, the slow pace of infrastructure development frustrates the youthful chief who dubs it 'stagnant' Though reluctant to elaborate Northeast residents are not happy that most of the infrastructure developments have been directed to Tati Siding. 
Tati Siding has infrastructure like streetlights and new roads compared to Masunga, despite the latter being the headquarters of the district.

Mmegi has also been informed that this state of affairs resulted in a delegation from Masunga presenting the village grievances to the Minister of Local Government, Margaret Nasha and her permanent secretary in February this year.
Meanwhile, Kgosi Maruje III continues to kick his heels in frustration and is likely to experience premature greying of his hair.

Since his inauguration last October, he has held umpteen kgotla meetings where his subjects have been inundating him with their unhappiness about the way the development of their village is going.

'We had to engage the council about such issues and despite some hurdles at the beginning we came to an understanding with the council and hopefully the village will soon start to develop in the right direction,' he says.

Kgosi Masunga III says the stagnant development has resulted in Masunga losing most of its active members of the community to other villages and urban areas.
'We have lost the youth, and most professionals shun Masunga because of the inadequate infrastructure development.  If the village can improve in terms of development, our people would come back to build their homes here so that the village can grow,' he stressed.

  
He however observes that inadequate infrastructure alone cannot be blamed because residents of the district as a whole need to be pro-active in developing and investing back in their own home villages.

 
' During the Christmas holidays, you would be amazed to see all these luxury vehicles like Range Rovers, which are owned by some of this country's leading academics, professionals and big shots from some of the leading private companies.  These people originate from villages in this district and they need to be pro-active and do something to see to it that this area develops, observes Masunga'

 
Another issue he cited is the disadvantages that resulted in Northeast being headquartered at Francistown before it became a town and then a city.  He said most people still think Francistown is part of the district and they end up directing all the investment to the city while ignoring the North East.

 
'A typical example is the Tati Nickel Mines. They are in the North East but the direct economic boom spin-offs boost Francistown more than the district they are located in.  The property, retail and office demand is all happening in the city and this leaves us without any major economic earner in our district, 'Masunga says.

The influx of illegal immigrants from the neighbouring state accompanied with criminal elements is one of the issues he considers a major negative factor that stagnates Masunga.  This, he says poses a serious security problem resulting in people who work in the village feeling unsafe.  'We end up not retaining quality workforce because they choose to relocate to other places where they will feel a little bit safer'.

Land is one of the most delicate issues around the world especially in Africa to the extent of resulting in bloodshed conflicts.  North East district is the worst in the country when it comes to availability of land both for farming and grazing.  Tati Concessions Company owns the majority of the land available.

Kgosi Maruje III believes the land shortage poses a lot of challenges in the North East because it has resulted in people settling in small clusters, which are few kilometres apart from each other.

 
'These kinds of settlement poliies result in villages fighting for the limited resources like schools.  This area is characterised by students who have to commute everyday to schools from one village to another and it poses security risks. To some extent it infringes on some children's human rights'.

      
Water challenges also impact on developments in the North East despite the completion of Ntimbale dam and the water pipeline connecting all the villages in the district.  The delay is said to be caused by the commissioning of the water treatment plant. Kgosi Maruje III is however optimistic about the future outlook of his village.  He revealed that in the coming week the council will advertise a tender invitation for the revamping of roads and installation of streetlights in Masunga.

 
The Masunga Development Plan 2007-2013, he says, outlines a positive development outlook geared at elevating the status of the village.  The village already boasts developments like a stadium, primary hospital, senior secondary school and a magistrate court.